Professional Resources Inquiry
I have always felt that the simple action of human touch is an underrated aspect of our lives. Only now, with the advances in neuroscience, we are finally able to prove the science behind why touch is so important in our lives. For the purposes of this paper, I will be focusing on the benefits of touch for infants and small children. I think that a lot of people don’t realize how important it is to have touch in our lives. I have always been interested in the ways the simplest of human contact like a hand on a shoulder or a hug can change people’s lives for the better. It is easy for those of us who have lots of physical touch in our lives to imagine that there are people out there who don’t get any physical contact with other people in their daily lives. We also live in a society where touch is an aspect of daily life that is being pushed farther out of mainstream culture. Canadian society is led by a prime minister who publicly gives his own five year old son a hand shake instead of a hug and even a simple hand shake is now being shied away from due to increasing fears of communicable diseases and infections. Lack of touch in early childhood can lead to developmental problems both mental and physical. This can lead to feelings of disconnection from society and problems with forming interpersonal relationships.
Finding Resources
When I began to look up resources for this paper, I decided to first decide how I would go about finding my sources. A good place to begin to research a particular area of medical or scientific practice would be a textbook dedicated to the related field. Textbooks are generally regarded as excellent sources of information and are usually based on a lot of peer reviewe...
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...ll get smaller, if not removed entirely. At the moment there are gaps between the more subjective studies that talk about how touch affects us as people and the more objective studies that have been conducted on the brains neuro-chemistry and development. For now, I think these gaps are best overcome by conducting thorough research utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods in order bring together the information in as professional a manner as possible without sacrificing the quality and humanity of the study.
Works Cited
Canadian Fundamentals of Nursing, Perry and Potter, 2010
http://library.adoption.com/articles/the-importance-of-touch.html
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/02/science/the-experience-of-touch-research-points-to-a-critical-role.html?pagewanted=1
http://www6.miami.edu/touch-research/
http://www.healthyfamily.org/cs/user/print/article/2
Polgar, S. Thomas,S,A. (2000) .INTRODUCTION to Research in the Health Sciences, 4th edition, Harcourt publishers Ltd. London.
It is essential that when using evidence-based practice guidelines to choose a treatment, that variety of research methods are applied so that the best relevant data can be produced. Such methods include qualitative/quantitative research, randomised controlled trials and systematic reviews. Both qualitative and quantative methods produce valuable data. Quantative research produces numeric evidence that is necessary for practice and can be measured and qualitative research produces descriptive data about the subject by using patients views etc. which can also be applied to clinical practice (Broeder et al, 2010)
When caring for patients it is fundamentally important to have a good selection of up to date evidence Based Practice clinical articles to support research strategies, this allows professionals to assemble the most resent and accurate information known which enables them to make decisions tailored to the individual’s plan of care. It is essential to have clinical expertise and have the involvement from the individual patient, they must have full engagement and incorporation in order to have the accurate evaluation.
Field T., Hernandez-Reif M., Diego M., et al, Massage therapy by parents improves early growth and development. Infant Behav Deve, 2004; 27, 435-442.
Page-Reeves, J., Niforatos, J., Mishra, S., Regino, L., Gingrich, A., & Bulten, J. (2011). Health
This journal was unbiased and took a scientific approach to the topic. However, it does not go very far beyond stating the details of the study, and due to a lack of a counterargument I would not consider it an all-encompassing overview of the subject. However, the information is presented with a neutral and formal tone. I would consider this a reliable source.
middle of paper ... ... on.org/research.html. April 15, 2011. Dugdale, David C. MD. 2010.
From birth, our everyday experiences and interactions with the people around us help to grow and shape the brain. The child-caregiver relationship is a key element in healthy cognitive development, and has a lasting impact on the child’s life. Through this positive relationship the child learns and cultivates their understanding of people and the world around them. These experiences will help determine the level of motor skills, visual skills, and learning abilities that a child will possess in their future. A responsive caregiver provides the serve-and-return interactions a child needs to develop healthy brain circuitry. A healthy example of serve-and-return is when an infant babbles and gestures to an object, the caregiver responds accordingly by smiling and naming the object. This interaction lays the foundation for creating a link between the object and the word. As children age they learn about cause and effect, spatial relationships, problem solving, number sense, and classification. They learn these skills through the use of symbolic play and imitation.
O'Brien, D. (2009). Randomized controlled trials (RCTs). In R. Mullner (Ed.), Encyclopedia of health services research. (pp. 1017-1021). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: http://dx.doi.org.proxy1.ncu.edu/10.4135/9781412971942
...Weller, Aron, Sirota, Lea & Eidelman, Arthur I. (2003). Testing a family intervention hypothesis: The contribution of mother-infant skin-to-skin contact (kangaroo care) to family interaction, proximity, and touch. Journal of Family Psychology, 17, 94-107. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.17.1.94
It discusses how children are born with that needs to connect with individuals around them. Teachers and providers create positive relationship with children from birth through the early years. The foundation for that healthy social and emotional development because it affects her children see the world, express themselves, manages their emotions, in establishing a positive relationship with others. There were several areas of development that included social interactions that focus on the relationship that we share and include relationship with adults and peers. Emotional awareness recognized and understands your feelings and actions of other people, and self-regulation where you have that ability to express your thoughts, feelings, and behavior in a socially appropriate way. There were many tips that were listed when working with infants from talking and reading, having that warm, responsive, and consistent care, maintaining predictable routines, and getting to know each child while following their lead. The importance of supporting children and developing social skills is critical for learning, happiness, and long-term. This development begins during infancy and can be supported through simple social games, emotional role model, and imitating an infant's facial expression and sounds. The importance of social-emotional development and toddlers makes an impact in a child life when these skills are developed starting in infancy. Encouraging positive behaviors and using positive discipline practices that helped to develop the ability to make good choices as well as recognizing the confidence that is built when these behaviors are repeated. This is a process for young children to learn these behaviors always remembering that a patient response will help especially when the behaviors are
In partial fulfilment of course work requirements of the Degree of Masters of Science in Medicine
Ayers, Susan, and Richard Visser. "Psychology and Medicine." Psychology for medicine. London: Sage, 2011. . Print.
Then, full texts were reviewed for the remaining articles to evaluate and identify the highly relevant articles. Additional relevant articles are identified through manual search by observing the reference lists and bibliographies of included studies and articles.
The most important information in this chapter is: Touch is as important to good health as are food and water. While an individual can commendably live without sight, smell, taste, or hearing, life requires the sense of touch.